Ladder attachment.



J. N. FARNHAM. LADDER ATTACHMENT. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 12, 1912.

Patented July 8, 1913.

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LADDER ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 8, 1913.

Application filed June 12, 1912. Serial No. 703,343.

To all whom, it may concern:

lie it known that- I, JEREMIAH N. FARN- IIAM', a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Rockland, in the county of Knox and State of Maine,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ladder Attachments,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in attachments forladders and more particularly to ladder brackets, and the object of myinvention is to provide a bracket for attachment to a ladder and bymeans of which the ladder and bracket may be employed for hoistingpurposes.

A further object of my invention is to provide a bracket which may bereadily attached to or detached from a ladder and which may be employedin hoisting plaster, shingles, or other building materials to variousparts of a building, thereby doing away With the necessity of building aspecial frame for holding the block and tackle employed or of carryingthe materials up the ladder manually.

A further object of my invention is to provide a ladder bracket whichmay be attached with equal facility to either side of the ladder and toprovide means for bracing and holding the bracket against swingingmovement when so attached.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a ladder bracketadapted for attachment to a ladder and having a swinging crane arm whichmay be swung to one side and to which the block and tackle may beattached. And a still further object of my invention is to provide adevice of the character described which, when removed from the ladder,may be readily folded to gether into compact form for transportation.

lVith these and other objects in view, my invention will be more fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and thenspecifically pointed out in the claims which are attached to and form apart of this application.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a fragmcntary perspective view of aconventional form of ladder, showing my ladder bracket applied theretoand in use; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a ladder, showingthe ladder bracket in place, the crane arm being swung to inoperativeposition to better show its structure; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectionalview of the body member of the bracket, showing the manner of attachingthe lashing cords thereto.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawing by the samereference characters.

In order to clearly show the appli -ation and operation of my improveddevice, I have illustrated it as employed in raising mortar to an upperwindow 10 of a building 11, the device being applied to a ladder 12including spaced side members 13 and transversely extending spaced rungs14.

My ladder bracket consists primarily of an Lshaped frame 15, one arm ofwhich is adapted for attachment to the ladder, a substantiallytriangular shaped frame 16 swingingly secured to the other arm and alsoadapted for attachment with the ladder toprevent the swinging of theL-shaped frame thereon, and a second triangular shaped frame 17swingingly mounted be tween the free ends of the arms of the first frameand forming a swinging crane arm adapted to support the block andtackle, conventionally shown at 18.

The main frame of my device is formed of metal and includes a bodyportion 19 preferably formed ofangle iron or channel iron for the sakeof added strength and having its flange or flanges, as the case may be,cut-away at one end to leave an extended web portion which is bent intothe form of a hook, as shown at 20 for engagement over one of the rungsof the ladder. The web portion of this body portion is provided at itsends with perforations 21 through which are passed cords 22 which areknotted, as shown at 23 adjacent each side of the web to prevent theirdisengagement therefrom, and the free ends of which are lashed about oneof the side members of the ladder when the bracket is in place.

A bar of metal 21 is secured by one end to the forward face of the webof the body member 1 as shown at 25 and is extended outwardly to formthe second arm of the L- shaped frame previously mentioned, this armextending at such an angle to the body member 19 that when the device isattached to a ladder and the ladder leaned against a wall in the usualmanner, this arm extends substantially in a horizontal position. The endportion of this bar Q-l is bent upon itself to form a double bearing 26and is then extended downwardly and inwardly and secured by its terminalto the web of the body member, as shown at 27.

The arm 24 carries spaced eyes 28 and swingingly mounted through theseeyes is one side 29 of the triangular framemember 16. This frame ispreferably formed from a single rod of metal having one end bent atright angles to the portion 29 and having its other end bent toward thefirst and secured thereto, the ends being preferably secured to eachother by twisting one about the other. One of the terminals is furtherbent to form an eye 30 through which is passed a cord 31 by means ofwhich the free end of the frame member 16 may be lashed to the oppositeside member of the ladder, as shown in Fig. 1. This cord is alsopreferably passed about that rung of the ladder engaged by the hook 20to still further assist in supporting the bracket and also to preventthe total disengagement of the upper portion of the bracket from theladder in case the hook 20 breaks or becomes disengaged from the rung.As will be readily seen, this triangular frame 16 braces the main frame15 against all swinging upon the ladder.

The crane arm or second triangular frame 17 is also formed from a singlerod of metal which is passed through a perforation formed in the doublebearing 25 of the L- shaped frame and one end of which is bent at rightangles to the body, as shown at 32. This end is further bentintermediate its length to form an eye 33 for the reception of the hook34: of the tackle block and is then extended to the opposite end of therod and twisted about the same, as shown at 35. The free end of the bodyportion of the frame 17 is passed through a perforation formed in abracket 36 of metal, secured to the lower end of the body member 19 andis bent, as shown at 37 to prevent disengagement therefrom. By thismeans, the frame member 17 is swingingly mounted between the terminalsof the arms of the Lshaped frame 15 and may be readily swung to extendto either side of the ladder.

Although I have described the use of cords or cables lashed about theside members of the ladder as the means of securing the bracket inplace, it will of course be understood that clamps or any other suitabledevice may be employed instead, my preference for the cords being due tothe fact that they will work equally as well upon all styles of ladders,while a clamp would work on one ladder but might not on another.

As will be seen the bracket may be applied upon either side of theladder with equal facility. When the bracket is employed for raisingarticles of any comparative weight, the ladder may be lashed as shown at38 by a screw eye 39 inserted in the wall of the building and a cable 40passed through the eye and lashed about that side of the ladder oppositethe side to which the bracket is attached, this lashing preventing theswinging or turning of the ladder under the side strain of the load. Ifused in connection with a scaffold, the ladder of course may be lasheddirectly to the scaffold without the employment of the eye 39. When notin use, the bracket may be readily removed from the ladder and the frame17 may be folded against the frame 15 and the frame 16 extended to liein a plane with the frame 15 when the device will occupy but littlespace.

The foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawing clearlydiscloses the operation of my invention and any further description ofthe same is therefore unnecessary.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with aladder, of an L shaped frame, means for attaching said frame to one sideof the ladder, a brace frame swingingly connected to one arm of theL-shaped frame, means for attaching said brace frame to the oppositeside of the ladder to prevent swinging of the L-shaped frame, and acrane arm swingingly mounted in the terminals of the arms of theL-shaped frame.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with aladder, of an L- shaped frame, means carried by the frame for attachmentto the ladder, a brace frame extending at right angles to the L-shapedframe, means for attaching the brace frame to the ladder, and asubstantially triangular shaped frame swingingly mounted in the freeends of the L-shaped frame. I

3. A ladder attachment including an L- shaped frame, a triangular framemounted to swing in the terminals of the arms of the first frame, and asecond triangular frame swingingly mounted on one arm of the L-' shapedframe.

4. A ladder attachment including a body member provided at one end witha hook, an arm extending laterally from the body member and bracedthereto, a bearing bracket secured to the free end of the body member, acrane arm mounted to swing in the free end of the laterally directed armand the bearing bracket, means for attaching the body member to asupport, and means for preventing the swinging of the body memeyescarried by the other arm of the frame, and a second frame swinginglymounted in said eyes and adapted to be secured to the support to bracethe first frame against swinging thereon.

6. A ladder attachment including an L- shaped frame, one arm of Which isadapted for attachment to a ladder, a second frame carried by the otherarm of the first frame and also adapted for attachment to a ladder, anda triangular frame mounted for swinging movement in the arms of theL-shaped frame and including a side extending in the plane of one of thearms and formed with a loop.

other and each adapted for attachment to a ladder, and a crane armcarried by one of the frames.

8. A device of the character described including frames swinginglyconnected to each other, one of said frames being adapted forlongitudinal attachment to a ladder, the other of said frames beingadapted for transverse attachment to the ladder, and a crane armswingingly mounted upon the first of said frames.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JEREMIAH N. FARNHAM.

Witnesses FLORENCE C. HALEY, KATHARINE M. OREAMER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C.

